'Lost in time' in the library
District librarian finds bust collecting dust for at least 20 years
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| The sculpture, titled The Poet, was created in 1942 by Ossip Zadkine. It has been sitting largely unnoticed in the Dixon High School library. Research by librarian Madison Dhennin has led to the discovery of the story behind the piece, which is valued at $40,000 to $50,000. (Emily Coleman/ecoleman@saukvalley.com) |
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DIXON – No one really knew how or when it got there.
The bust had been sitting on a shelf in the library of Dixon High School, collecting dust for at least 20 years, the district’s librarian, Madison Dhennin, told the school board Wednesday evening.
It wasn’t until it needed to be moved as part of work being done in the library that anyone really started asking questions.
The answers turned out to be surprising.
The sculpture, titled The Poet, depicts the head of a man. A bird flies past his open lips, a hand curling next to his left ear.
It was carved from marble by Ossip Zadkine in 1942, Dhennin discovered through her research.
The artist had been born in what was then the Russian Federation (now Belarus) in 1890, according to the Belgian research center that bears his name. He moved to London and then to Paris as he established his reputation as a sculptor and painter.
Zadkine had moved to the U.S. briefly when John and Ruth Stephan donated the piece to the district. Ruth Stephan, a poet, was the daughter of Charles Walgreen.
“The Poet is Zadkine’s way of expressing the portrait of any or all poets in the act of creating poetry, ... or the experience of creating poetry,” Irma Middup, then the district’s supervisor of art, wrote in 1942.
“The left side is slightly concave and contains in very low relief the profile of a face. The straight nose is definitely related to the early Greek profile. Thus we have the symbols for the inspiration of poetry characterized by the Greek Muse.”
While the district does not know the exact worth of the sculpture, Dhennin said, the Zadkine Research Center estimates its value at $40,000 to $50,000 and has offered to purchase it.
The district has insured it since discovering its value.
So Dixon High School Principal Mike Grady wants to know what the next step should be. Should the district keep the piece? Or should it offer it back to the research center in Brussels, where perhaps it has more significance, and use the money to perhaps renovate the library?
Grady asked the board to think about it.
Board Vice President Tom LeMoine had one thought so far.
“I think the amazing thing was that this was in our midst and nobody knew about it,” he said. “It’s like it was lost in time.”
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Just my 2 cents, but for years it was forgotten and unappreciated -- sell it to those who care about it and take the money -- give your taxpayers a bit of a break on the renovations. |
